Baku claims contract signed for F1 street race

1 May 2014

A grand prix in Azerbaijan looks set to join the calendar in 2016 after a deal was signed to hold a race around the streets of Baku.

A race in the Azerbaijani capital was originally mooted at the start of March, with Bernie Ecclestone saying “We're going to Azerbaijan. The people out there (in Azerbaijan) are talking about holding a race in 2015. That may be a bit soon — unless it's at the end of the season, that's a possibility. But 2016 is more likely.”

Now, Azad Rahimov – Azerbaijan's Minister of Youth and Sports – has said the deal has been signed with the later debut planned.

"We have signed the deal with Bernie Ecclestone and will announce it officially with an event in Baku shortly," Rahimov is quoted as telling insidethegames.

The race is set to take place in 2016 due to Baku hosting the inaugural European Games a year earlier, with the official title expected to be the Grand Prix of Europe after the moniker dropped off the calendar with Valencia in 2012. Baku has hosted street races for GT3 for the last two years.